Information

Themes:
PEOPLE facing the extraordinary, Survival, SOCIAL CHRONICLES, Friendship, Loyalty

Pitch

A high stakes drama set against the harsh beauty of the Maine wilderness, charting the journey of four friends as they fight to survive the aftermath of a white water rafting accident.

Comments

Film rights optioned to Miramax, with Kevin Williamson and Eli Roth attached.

Pitched in the vein of Deliverance meets Girls Trip

Erica Ferencik is an award winning novelist. Her work has been featured on NPR's "Morning Stories," The Boston Globe and Salon.com.

"The River at Night is both a haunting, twisting thrill-ride through the Maine wilderness, and a story of friendship, humanity, and the will to survive. Terrifyingly real and impossible to put down." - (New York Times bestselling author Megan Miranda)

Summary

Winifred Allen needs a vacation.

Stifled by a soul-crushing job, devastated by the death of her beloved brother, and lonely after the end of a fifteen-year marriage, Wini is feeling vulnerable. So when her three best friends insist on a high-octane getaway for their annual girls’ trip, she signs on, despite her misgivings.

What starts out as an invigorating hiking and rafting excursion in the remote Allagash Wilderness soon becomes an all-too-real nightmare: A freak accident leaves the women stranded, separating them from their raft and everything they need to survive. When night descends, a fire on the mountainside lures them to a ramshackle camp that appears to be their lifeline. But as Wini and her friends grasp the true intent of their supposed saviors, long buried secrets emerge and lifelong allegiances are put to the test. To survive, Wini must reach beyond the world she knows to harness an inner strength she never knew she possessed.

With intimately observed characters, visceral prose, and pacing as ruthless as the river itself, THE RIVER AT NIGHT is a dark exploration of creatures - both friend and foe - that you won’t soon forget.

Kirkus Review

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Erica Ferencik is a graduate of the MFA program in Creative Writing at Boston University. Her work has appeared in Salon and The Boston Globe, as well as on National Public Radio. Her novel REPEATERS received a starred Kirkus Review and named to Kirkus Reviews Best of 2012.